Urania, which is also written as “Ourania,” is one of the 9 Muses (or Mousai), who together were the goddesses of dance, song and music. The daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, Urania is the the Muse of astronomy and writings about astronomy. As such, she is often depicted holding a globe while pointing at it with her rod. She also often wears a cloak that has been embroidered with many stars.
Urania – The Muse of Astronomy
The Creation of the Constellations
One myth tells of how the constellations came to be. The gods tasked Urania with decorating the night sky to guide and inspire mortals. Using her globe and rod, she cast patterns of stars across the heavens. Each telling a story of heroes, creatures, and gods, thus creating the constellations.
Fortune Teller
Urania was believed to be able to tell the future or prophesise. She did this by reading the stars as they were arranged in the sky, reading patterns and the shape of things to come.
Urania’s Gift to Humankind
It is said that Urania, looking upon the early humans struggling to comprehend the vastness of the night sky, bestowed upon them the gift of astronomy. Similalry to the theme aboce, she taught them how to read the stars and predict the seasons, as well as how to navigate the vast oceans.
The Contest of the Muses
In a lesser-known myth, the Muses held a contest to see who could inspire the greatest creation among mortals. Urania, using her heavenly influence, inspired an ancient astronomer to chart the stars and planets for the first time, creating a map of the cosmos that would be used by future generations. Though the contest had no declared winner, Urania’s contribution was celebrated as one of the most enduring.
Urania and the Lost Sailor
A myth recounts the story of a sailor lost at sea, with no stars to guide him home due to a vengeful god obscuring the night sky. In his despair, he called out to Urania for guidance. The Muse, taking pity on the sailor, revealed a single star through the darkness, guiding him safely to shore.
As you can no doubt see, there is a very common theme here in the myths that refer to Urania and her role as the muse of Astronomy. She may not play a large role in the vast mythology, but astronomy and navigation from the stars was a huge thing in ancient Greece. So Urania’s role is by no means minor.
Here are some interesting facts about Urania:
- Her name literally means “heavenly” or “a product of the heavens”
- Urania was one of the many daughters of Zeus
- Some believe that she was able to tell the future by looking into the stars and seeing how they are arranged
- She is the great granddaughter of Uranus
- She is often described as the mother of Linus, who was a musician or bard and who was Apollo’s son
- Some consider Hymenaeus, who is the god of marriage, to also be a son of Urania
- Her mother Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory, from which comes the English word “mnemonic,” which means “a device that helps enable memory”
- During the Renaissance she was the muse of many famous poets, including John Milton, who wrote “Paradise Lost”
- Many astronomical observatories have been named after her, including ones in Antwerp, Berlin, Bucharest, Budapest, Vienna and Zurich
- An asteroid called Urania 30 was named after her
- The U.S. Naval Observatory includes a depiction of Urania in its seal.
Link/cite this page
If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content.
Link will appear as Urania: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net - Greek Gods & Goddesses, October 21, 2019